The present invention relates to a portable concession stand having a combination braking and floor locking assembly.
A common method for selling items such as drinks, snacks, sundry items, and the like to audiences at sports events, fairs, amusement parks, etc., is typically accomplished by a hawker or vendor carrying the items in a tray or box through the crowd and selling the items therefrom to patrons. The vendor typically wears a money pouch and/or a change making device for holding the cash received from the patrons for the items sold. Because the vendor must hand-carry the items, the amount of items available for sale by the vendor at any given time is limited.
Where a suitable surface is available, a rollaround refreshment cart or concession stand mounted on wheels can be utilized which enables the amount of items available for sale by the vendor at any given time to be greatly increased. A portable concession stand can also be provided a cash drawer, thereby eliminating the need for the hawker to wear a money pouch and/or a change making device. Exterior sidewalls can be provided a portable concession stand which can supply surfaces suitable for advertising logos, menus, prices, etc. Moreover, the sidewalls of the portable concession stand can be provided insulation for maintaining the drinks, snacks, and the like, at a predetermined temperature with better results than is typically achievable with conventional hand-carried boxes and trays.
Because the portable concession stand is mounted on wheels, it would be desirable to provide the portable concession stand with a brake and/or locking means which would allow movement of the concession cart to be selectively restrained. However, for roll-around structures, the conventional commercially available floor locks, such as the Faultless FTL46 (27542), manufactured by Faultless Caster Corporation of Evansville, Ind., are foot-operated and are heavier and bulkier than is desirable. Further, because such commercially available floor locks are foot operated, such floor locks are not as easy to operate as would be a floor lock which could be actuated by hand. A foot operated floor lock may require the vendor to take his eyes off the crowd and off of the items he is selling, whereas a hand operated floor lock probably would not.
It would also be desirable to have a device whereby the portable concession stand could be braked for temporarily restraining movement thereof, so as to provide more control over the movement of the portable concession stand. Such a braking device would be most advantageously utilized if a "dead man" feature was provided so that should the vendor let go of the portable concession stand, the braking device would automatically be actuated to apply a braking force to restrain the portable concession stand from further movement.